Dave wrote in message . ..
Balderdash. A transformer that correctly drives the co-ax is a great
advantage.

Depends on the radio. Very few modern radios would benefit as far as
s/n ratio.
All the transformer usually does is pump up the s meter. If when
hooking up the antenna, the noise level increases, you have enough
signal. Increasing the level does not increase the s/n ratio unless
the radio is half dead. On the lower frequencies, you have so much
signal level with any decent length wire, you could drastically reduce
it, and still have plenty.

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 11:20:47 -0600, JJ
wrote:



Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL wrote:

There is no real advantage
for a balun on an antenna just for receiving.

Well, there is in some cases. In cases of bad shack noise, you can
drastically reduce noise ingress by adding a good balun or choke.
Also, many directional antennas like yagi's need decoupling for an
accurate pattern. Feedline radiation will skew the pattern. Also with
verticals used for VHF/UHF, decoupling is critical for good low angle
performance. Being all is reciprical, it's as important to receive as
it is to transmit. But, I do agree, as far as s/n ratio is concerned
with an HF wire antenna, a balun or transformer is not generally
needed. If adding matching actually improves the s/n ratio, you likely
have a fairly lame radio. The bigger payoff is reduced noise ingress
from the shack. That will improve the s/n ratio. If you actually have
noise that is... MK